1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for discriminately treating containers and the like, and more particularly to an apparatus operable to discriminate selectively between containers having different contents and to divert selected containers into a predetermined path of travel for individual treatment such as engagement with a vibratory bed which imparts vibratory or oscillatory motion to the contents of such containers. The apparatus herein described has particular utility in the handling and treatment of volume filled and tray packed containers, which are used in the shipment of produce, delivered in intermixed, random order along a path of travel by discriminating between the two types of containers and applying vibratory motion only to the volume filled containers.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
In the produce packing industry, such as in the packing of fresh fruit, assorted machinery has been designed, developed and manufactured with the idea in mind of eliminating as much manual labor as possible. Produce packing is a highly labor intensive operation and therefore the direct costs of labor and equipment that are required effectively to separate, grade, and properly pack assorted product are substantial. A variety of apparatuses have been developed and employed over the years for this purpose. More particularly, the prior art is replete with a multiplicity of container handling devices which are adapted to manipulate a container in selected fashions for the purpose of treating the container's contents in a predetermined manner and for closing and sealing the container once packed.
The packing of produce can be subdivided into many categories. However, most produce is shipped and packaged in one of two fashions, that is, in a tray packed or a volume filled container. In some instances, depending upon the grade of the crop being processed, or upon the ultimate end use of the crop, a packing house or other processing plant may utilize both the tray packed and the volume filled containers for the same crop that is being processed at a given time. This is typical for fruit. Volume filled containers are those which are filled by simply allowing the fruit to tumble into the container. Tray packed containers are those in which the fruit is packed in layers within the container on trays having individual depressions to receive the fruit and where the fruit is oriented for display such as with the tips up. Volume filled containers stand in need of an additional processing step. More particularly, proper packing of volume filled containers requires the application of some form of vibratory or oscillatory motion to the containers once filled for the purpose of causing the contents of these volume filled containers to settle. This is required inasmuch as the initial packing of a volume filled container frequently results in the creation of air spaces within the contents thereof and thus a false volume is indicated. Typically, accordingly, the containers are overfilled to some degree to accommodate subsequent settling prior to sealing of the containers. No such requirement for vibrating or shaking the containers exists for tray packed containers. Further, it is undesirable to vibrate or shake tray packed containers because it may cause shifting of the fruit from the desired display attitudes and the application of such energy to tray packed containers may cause damage to the contents. In contrast, because volume filled fruit is not otherwise protected, such shaking is necessary to achieve settling so that in the sealed container there is no room for shifting during shipment which may damage the fruit.
The administration of vibratory motion through the utilization of variously configured mechanical mechanisms for the purpose of causing the settling of the contents of a volume filled container has been known for a long period of time. While these assorted devices are currently available and in wide-spread usage, they have suffered numerous shortcomings which have detracted from their usefulness. A lack of ability to discriminate between volume filled and tray packed containers has been their primary impediment. This problem is compounded in vibratory mechanisms which are currently in use in most packing house operations inasmuch as manual labor must be employed to segregate the volume and tray packed containers into different lots for appropriate treatment. Therefore, current devices do not balance the practical needs of the modern packing house operation and the interrelated parameters of efficiency and cost which is particularly critical to the profitability of such operations.
Still another problem encountered in prior art vibratory mechanisms which have been designed for such use is the propensity for the mechanisms to exhibit a characteristic inability to cooperate with other devices borne by the machine mounting the vibratory mechanism in the same or adjoining work stations.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have an apparatus for discriminately treating containers and the like which could be employed in a wide variety of different environments and on a variety of different machines, which could be manufactured and purchased at relatively moderate cost, which is both highly efficient in operation and capable of discriminating between volume filled and tray packed containers for the purpose of selectively treating the former with vibratory motion, and which reduces to an absolute minimum the assorted problems associated with the treatment of volume filled and tray packed containers.